While we didn't quite accomplish that (YET!), we did manage something similar!
As we planned our trip to Asia in our quest to finally visit Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland, we decided to add a return visit to Tokyo Disneyland after having first gone there in 2017. Since we also had annual passes to Disneyland and WDW, we realized that it would be possible get to five of the six international Disney spots in 2026.
Don't tell us "five of the six," because that just means we'll figure out a way for it to be "all six!"
To make that happen, we planned a trip to WDW in late January, a trip to Disneyland in February, and a trip to Disneyland Paris in May, in addition to the three Asia parks in July, to complete the list!
I also came up with the title for this adventure: 6 in 6 in '26! - meaning trips to each of the six Disney castles in six months in 2026!
We planned to visit WDW (#1) on January 24 and then Hong Kong Disneyland (#6) on July 16, with the other four happening in between, which would meet the timeline of six months. Our other criteria was to stay at the Disneyland Hotel on all trips (obviously there is no Disneyland Hotel at WDW, so we opted for the flagship hotel there - Grand Floridian) and we were super excited when we had everything plotted out and all hotel stays secured!
Before this adventure even began, it was almost derailed because of an ice storm in January that forced us to cancel our trip. Luckily, WDW is clearly the easiest of the six for us to get to, so we rebooked the trip for last weekend and were still within our six-month timeframe; Disneyland (#1) was February 21 and WDW (#6) was August 15, with the other four destinations in between!
While there are six Disney castles, there are a total 12 Disney theme parks: Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Tokyo Disneyland, Tokyo DisneySea, Disneyland Paris, Disney Adventure World, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Shanghai Disneyland. Now that we've been to each of them, we can definitely say that Shanghai Disneyland is our favorite! As far as the castles go, it's a pretty close call between Paris and Shanghai, and in terms of the hotels, Paris is our favorite (although the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim is the sentimental winner)!
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| wore this shirt at WDW last weekend and it generated a lot of conversations with cast members and other guests! |
Six Disney Castles:
Six Disney Castles with my rainbow Dachshund:
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| Disneyland |
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| Disneyland Paris |
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| Tokyo Disneyland |
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| Shanghai Disneyland |
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| Hong Kong Disneyland |
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| Walt Disney World |
Six Flagship Disney Hotels:
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| Disneyland Hotel Anaheim |
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| Disneyland Hotel Paris |
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| Disneyland Hotel Tokyo |
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| Disneyland Hotel Shanghai |
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| Disneyland Hotel Hong Kong |
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| Grand Floridian WDW |
Hotel Keys:
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| Disneyland |
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| Disneyland Paris |
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| Tokyo Disneyland |
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| Shanghai Disneyland |
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| Hong Kong Disneyland |
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| Grand Floridian |
Six Disney Castles with my favorite Tinker Bell ears:
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| Disneyland |
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| Disneyland Paris |
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| Tokyo Disneyland |
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| Shanghai Disneyland |
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| Hong Kong Disneyland |
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| Walt Disney World |
It was fun to use the apps for all six parks:
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As I've said before, whenever we're working on any kind of checklist, it's always a relief when we complete it, since there's an ever-present potential for something going awry and thwarting our carefully-laid plans!
The original bucket list item of going to all Disney Parks around the world in one trip will have to wait a while until we retire (and a Disney Park is opening in Abu Dhabi in a few years, so we'll have to make that part of the trip, too!), but we are extremely pleased with our 6 in 6 in '26! adventure!
Happy Tails to you!
